A motorsports enthusiast in general and especially of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Steve McQueen had a dream: to make a movie about his dream race. Even though it turned into a nightmare, the film "Le Mans" saw the light of day and a behind-the-scenes documentary was presented at the Festival of Cannes.

24H Le Mans

Le Mans Legendes

24 Heures du Mans

Historique

2025 Retrospective | Check out these stunning shots from the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans! From the city centre parade to the Hyperpole to the chequered flag, relive the highlights from this exceptional running of the race attended by a record 332,000 spectators.

<h2>Tour of the City Centre: a&nbsp;warm-up ahead of the 24 Hours</h2>

<p>For the third consecutive year following Scrutineering, 19 cars across every marque in this year&#39;s 24 Hours took over&nbsp;the Le Mans city centre, namely&nbsp;Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes, Peugeot, Porsche and&nbsp;Toyota. Thousands of fans came out to witness the breathtaking cars snake&nbsp;through the streets&nbsp;past shops, banks,&nbsp;restaurants and&nbsp;under balconies&nbsp;to the foot of the town&#39;s famous cathedral.</p>

<p>In the&nbsp;photo below is Iron Lynx&#39;s #63&nbsp;Mercedes-AMG LMGT3 with the&nbsp;Saint-Julien Catheral in the background. The German&nbsp;constructor made its return to the 24 Hours in&nbsp;the&nbsp;LMGT3 category after a&nbsp;26-year absence.</p>

<h2>62 cars on the starting grid</h2>

<p>Tradition dictates that on the Tuesday before&nbsp;the big race, all the&nbsp;cars&nbsp;pose for a class&nbsp;photo on the pit straight. At the&nbsp;93rd running, the field included: 21 Hypercars, 17 LMP2s and 24&nbsp;LMGT3s. Thanks to the presence of Alpine, Aston Martin, BMW, Cadillac, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Lexus, McLaren, Mercedes, Peugeot, Porsche and&nbsp;Toyota, Le&nbsp;Mans and the FIA World Endurance&nbsp;Championship (FIA WEC) are both&nbsp;experiencing a golden age.</p>

<h2>class&nbsp;photo&nbsp;</h2>

<p>The drivers also got their class photo, behind the official trophy and&nbsp;joined by Automobile Club de l&#39;Ouest President&nbsp;Pierre Fillon and FIA WEC CEO&nbsp;Fr&eacute;d&eacute;ric Lequien. A total 186 drivers had the honour of taking on the legendary&nbsp;24 Hours&nbsp;this year, including&nbsp;36 rookies. Thirty-four nationalities were represented and five female drivers took the start in the race: Jamie Chadwick, C&eacute;lia Martin, Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and&nbsp;Lilou Wadoux.</p>

<h2>Euphoria&nbsp;for&nbsp;Alex Lynn and&nbsp;Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA</h2>

<p>Alex Lynn in&nbsp;Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA&#39;s #12 Cadillac V-Series.R gave the American carmaker its first&nbsp;Hyperpole ever&nbsp;with a time of&nbsp;3:23.166. With the&nbsp;3:23.33 clocked by Earl Bamber, Cadillac monopolised the first row on the starting grid this year.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>A first for&nbsp;Roger Federer</h2>

<p>The Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest named&nbsp;Roger Federer as the official starter this year. Considered one of the greatest tennis superstars of all time, he earned&nbsp;20&nbsp;Grand Chelem&reg; titles and&nbsp;topped&nbsp;the world tennis classification for 310 weeks&nbsp;with a playing&nbsp;style that has fascinated entire generations of fans.&nbsp;But beyond&nbsp;his performances, he embodies elegance, integrity&nbsp;and high standards, all values reflected and upheld at&nbsp;Le Mans.</p>

<p><strong>Roger Federer</strong>: <em>It was a real honour to give the start at the 93rd running.&nbsp;</em><em>There was a tense&nbsp;energy in the air at that&nbsp;precise moment. I was struck by the sheer scale of what Le Mans represents.</em></p>

<h2>Fast Pace from the OUtset</h2>

<p>The moment Federer gave the start, Hertz Team JOTA&#39;s two&nbsp;Cadillac V-Series.Rs set the pace against their rivals. However, in quick fashion after taking off third,&nbsp;Julien Andlauer in the #5&nbsp;Porsche 963 overtook the two American cars and went on to&nbsp;carve out a gap of more than 10 seconds thanks to super&nbsp;fast&nbsp;laps.</p>

<h2>Ferrari and&nbsp;Porsche neck and neck</h2>

<p>Just prior to 20:00, AF Corse&#39;s #83&nbsp;Ferrari 499P snatched the lead ahead of&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorport&#39;s #6&nbsp;Porsche 963 and Ferrari-AF Corse&#39;s #51&nbsp;Ferrari. The&nbsp;duel Ferrari-Porsche became&nbsp;one of the main storylines of the 2025 24 Hours, and this photo&nbsp;of the leading trio, wheel-to-wheel between the Mulsanne and Indianapolis Corners, perfectly captures&nbsp;the intensity of the race.</p>

<h2>Greatest show on earth</h2>

<p>At midnight, all eyes turned from the track to the skies. The 24 Hours of Le Mans Show, with this year&#39;s theme 24H&nbsp;On Board, delivered a jawdropping 20-minute visual feast including magical fireworks, a mesmerising drone show&nbsp;and stunning laser displays. Meanwhile, the drivers (undistracted by this spectacle) pushed their limits around the circuit and continued their quest for victory.</p>

<h2>Ferrari triumphs once again</h2>

<p>After&nbsp;24 hours of racing and&nbsp;387 laps, AF Corse&#39;s #83 Ferrari 499P shared by&nbsp;Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and&nbsp;Phil Hanson won the&nbsp;93rd running of Le&nbsp;Mans. The last win by a private team supported by a top marque dated back to 2005 with&nbsp;Champion Racing&#39;s Audi R8. Kubica became the first Polish driver to triumph at the race and Ye the first Chinese. Ferrari had secured a third victory in a row and its&nbsp;12th at Le&nbsp;Mans.</p>

<p>And let us not forget the wins for Inter Europol Competition in LMP2 and for Team Manthey 1ST Phorm&#39;s #92&nbsp;Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3 in LMGT3!</p>

<h2>A record 332,000 fans at the circuit!</h2>

<p>This year&#39;s running&nbsp;was flooded with&nbsp;a whopping&nbsp;332,000 spectators, establishing a new attendance record.&nbsp;Thank you to each and every one of you for your unwavering support&nbsp;and enthusiasm, and for making&nbsp;the heart of Le Mans beat stronger every year. See you in 2026 for more thrilling and unforgettable moments at&nbsp;the 24 Hours of Le Mans!</p>

<p>Relive the highlights of the fourth round of the&nbsp;2025 FIA WEC, including a complete overview of the race&nbsp;from behind the scenes to the action on the track, in&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/2025-24-hours-of-le-mans-yearbook-now-available-60113" target="_blank"><strong>official yearbook</strong></a>.</p>

Top 10 photos from the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans

In the wake of a tenacious 2025 season, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing has turned its focus to next year. With an improved GR010 Hybrid and the same driver line-ups, the Japanese team is looking to reconquer the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the world title.

<p>A top&nbsp;contender&nbsp;in the FIA Word Endurance Championship since its inception, TOYOTA GAZOO&nbsp;Racing endured an unnerving&nbsp;2025 season marked by a frustrating yet revealing 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite&nbsp;retaining&nbsp;its position in the championship classification, the Japanese marque&nbsp;is currently preparing a new version of the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-toyota-gr010-hybrid-under-the-microscope-a-hypercar-born-to-win-le-mans-59762" target="_blank">GR010 Hybrid</a>&nbsp;</strong>for next year. The goal is to reclaim the top step on the race&#39;s podium and reassert the team&#39;s&nbsp;domination.</p>

<h2>Bad Luck at the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans</h2>

<p>Competing in Hypercar&nbsp;since&nbsp;2021, TOYOTA GAZOO&nbsp;Racing is the veteran team of&nbsp;the category. Winner of the 2024 FIA Endurance Hypercar Constructors trophy&nbsp;&mdash; its seventh title in 10 years&nbsp;&mdash; the outfit&nbsp;approached this past season with one&nbsp;clear objective: to retake the helm at&nbsp;Le&nbsp;Mans. <strong>Team principal and #7&nbsp;GR010 Hybrid driver Kamui Kobayashi:</strong> <em>We will have to challenge ourselves to get better in every area to stay on top.</em></p>

<p>In honour of&nbsp;the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/toyota-celebrates-40-years-at-the-24-hours-with-standout-liveries-59575" target="_blank">40th anniversary of Toyota&#39;s first&nbsp;participation in the 24 Hours</a></strong>, the two GR010 Hybrids took the start clearly looking to clinch a sixth win. With performance and reliability on point, the race was theirs to lose. At that stage of the season, Toyota was second in the championship&nbsp;standings, arriving at Le Mans as a credible contender against Ferrari.</p>

<p>The&nbsp;#7 shared by&nbsp;Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and&nbsp;Nyck de Vries struggled from the very first lap, but still managed to climb to sixth position after qualifying 16th. After briefly holding the lead, the&nbsp;#8 of&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and&nbsp;Ryo Hirakawa fought to stay&nbsp;in&nbsp;the top 4 before&nbsp;mechanical troubles&nbsp;cost the car more than 20 minutes, finishing the race in&nbsp;16th place. <strong>Kobayashi:</strong> <em>We knew it would be a tough race, and it was indeed very tough. We tried to take every opportunity to get the win, but we couldn&rsquo;t make it happen this time. Now we have lost to Ferrari three times in a row which is not acceptable to me. We will come back to Le Mans stronger next year and with a different mindset.</em></p>

2025 WEC Le Mans: Highlights

24 Heures du Mans 2025 : les temps forts de Toyota Gazoo Racing

<h2>Toyota GR010 Hybrid Improvements</h2>

<p>Thanks to a decisive one-two at the Bapco Energies 8 Hours of&nbsp;Bahrain, final round of the 2025&nbsp;FIA WEC, Toyota secured second place in the FIA Endurance Hypercar Contructors Championship. The result capped off a difficult season while demonstrating the resilient and competitive nature of the entire team.</p>

<p>Now on to 2026 and&nbsp;Toyota&#39;s newly improved&nbsp;GR010 Hybrid. The driver line-ups will remain unchanged. A third season at the wheel of the&nbsp;#7 await Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and&nbsp;Nyck de Vries, and teammates&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and&nbsp;Ryo Hirakawa are heading into their fifth in the #8. <strong>Four-time Le Mans winner&nbsp;S&eacute;bastien Buemi:</strong><em><strong> </strong>Considering the season we had up to now, finishing second in the World Championship is a nice boost for everyone&rsquo;s morale going into next season, when we hope to come back stronger and fight for the title</em>.</p>

<p>In response to Ferrari&#39;s domination of three consecutive runnings of the 24 Hours, Toyota is back with a vengeance, including&nbsp;a better car, seasoned driver line-ups and renewed determination.</p>

<p>In 2026, TOYOTA GAZOO&nbsp;Racing doesn&#39;t just want to battle, it wants to lead the charge&nbsp;once again.</p>

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing: clawing its way back to the top

After taking home the FIA Endurance Hypercar Drivers Championship trophy in 2024, Porsche Penske Motorsport aimed even higher this year, seeking the Constructors title and a staggering 20th win at the 24 Hours. Here is a look back at a season marked by an epic duel at Le Mans and Porsche Penske Motorsport's retirement from the FIA WEC.

<p>Porsche Penske Motorsport took on&nbsp;2025 with very clear marching orders: successfully defend&nbsp;the Drivers trophy,&nbsp;earn&nbsp;the Constructors title and add a record 20th win at the 24 Hours to its track record. Despite delivering a flawless race at Le Mans and reaching the top step on the podium at&nbsp;Lone Star Le Mans, the German team finished third in the FIA&nbsp;WEC, far from the goal it set at the beginning of the year.</p>

<h2>14.084 seconds!</h2>

<p>In 2025, the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-porsche-963-under-the-microscope-built-for-win-20-59742" target="_blank">Porsche 963</a></strong>&nbsp;kicked off its third campaign in the FIA WEC fuelled&nbsp;by the desire to carry on the legacy of icons&nbsp;like&nbsp;the the 917, 935, 956, 962 and 919 Hybrid.&nbsp;Having secured a second consecutive win&nbsp;at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the German Hypercar was poised to compete as a top contender all season, but failed to make it into the&nbsp;top 5 in any of the first three races.</p>

<p>Four Porsche 963s participated in&nbsp;the 93rd&nbsp;24 Hours: three entered by&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport and one by&nbsp;Proton Competition.&nbsp;Despite a shaky start to the season, the the German carmaker&nbsp;reached a stellar performance&nbsp;level&nbsp;just in time to throw all its resources into the world&#39;s greatest endurance race.</p>

<p>After 387 laps, the&nbsp;#6 driven by&nbsp;K&eacute;vin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and&nbsp;Matt Campbell finished just 14.084 seconds behind AF Corse&#39;s wining #83&nbsp;Ferrari 499P. The&nbsp;tiny margin perfectly illustrates the intensity of this year&#39;s race.&nbsp;<strong>Laurens Vanthoor:</strong><em> We delivered an absolutely perfect race and virtually had one hand on the biggest trophy &ndash; you don&#39;t often come that close to such a triumph. What a pity!</em></p>

<p>Porsche&#39;s overall performance was impressive, with three 963s in the top 10.</p>

One step closer to infinity | Porsche 963 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2025

Porsche 963 aux 24 Heures du Mans 2025 : un pas de plus vers l'infini

<h2>The&nbsp;Porsche 963&#39;s Time in the&nbsp;FIA WEC Has Come to an End</h2>

<p>The<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/porsche-conquers-changing-conditions-to-triumph-in-texas-59935" target="_blank"><strong>Porsche 963 then won&nbsp;Lone Star Le Mans</strong></a>&nbsp;in Austin, Texas.&nbsp;This momentum continued with third and fourth place finishes at the 6 Hours of Fuji. Nonetheless,&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport ended the FIA Endurance Hypercar Constructors Championship in third&nbsp;place behind&nbsp;Ferrari and&nbsp;Toyota.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The 2025&nbsp;Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain signalled the final appearance of the&nbsp;Porsche 963&nbsp;representing&nbsp;Porsche Penske Motorsport in the FIA WEC. <strong>Porsche Motorsport Vice-President&nbsp;Thomas Laudenbach:</strong><em> Looking back over the past three years fills us with pride.</em></p>

<p>The&nbsp;963 is leaving the championship with four wins to its credit, one scored by customer team&nbsp;Hertz Team JOTA at the&nbsp;2024 TotalEnergies 6 Hours of&nbsp;Spa-Francorchamps.</p>

<p>Don&#39;t panic though. Porsche isn&#39;t leaving endurance racing altogether. You&#39;ll see the German marque in the&nbsp;2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as a veteran of the&nbsp;GTP category.</p>

<p>Despite failing to earn a coveted 20th victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year, the German constructor still holds an unparalleled record&nbsp;19 wins at the race.&nbsp;What a legacy!</p>

Porsche: the lap of honour before bowing out of the FIA WEC

Peugeot has learned a LOT after this mixed bag 2025 season. The 9X8 is improving, the team is restructuring and the goal is crystal clear: to place the French carmaker firmly at the top of the FIA ​​WEC and 24 Hours of Le Mans next year.

<p>Though this season&#39;s results failed to meet&nbsp;the Peugot TotalEnergies team&#39;s expectations, things are looking up. The French&nbsp;constructeur is gearing up for the 2026 FIA World Endurance&nbsp;Championship (FIA WEC) by&nbsp;pushing&nbsp;the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-peugeot-9x8-under-the-microscope-has-the-lion-sharpened-its-claws-59722" target="_blank">9X8</a></strong>&nbsp;to become a real contender in&nbsp;2026.</p>

<h2>Joker on Deck</h2>

<p>After positive performances at the end of the 2024 season, including a podium at the&nbsp;Bapco Energies 8 Hours of Bahrain, Peugeot headed into&nbsp;2025 looking to convert the momentum into more concrete&nbsp;results. Former&nbsp;<strong>Stellantis Motorsport Senior Vice-President Jean-Marc Finot:</strong><em>&nbsp;Now, we need to find a little more performance.</em>&nbsp;The marque&nbsp;had already approved the use of a suspension-focused Joker as early as the Qatar 1812 km, a crucial decision toward improving&nbsp;the competitiveness of the 9X8.</p>

<p>For its&nbsp;2025 campaign, Peugeot fielded two&nbsp;9X8s: the&nbsp;#93&nbsp;entrusted to&nbsp;Paul di Resta, Mikkel Jensen and&nbsp;Jean-&Eacute;ric Vergne, and the&nbsp;#94 to&nbsp;Lo&iuml;c Duval, Malthe Jakobsen and&nbsp;Stoffel Vandoorne. The off-season was productive thanks to two testing sessions and efforts to improve reliability.</p>

<h2>LetDown at the&nbsp;24 Hours Despite Daring Strategy</h2>

<p>Peugeot seemed on an upward trajectory arriving&nbsp;at the 93rd&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans. The preparation was solid and&nbsp;the dynamic positive with a renewed sense of confidence.&nbsp;Everything pointed to&nbsp;a successful outcome, but the race had other plans. Peugeot TotalEnergies opted for a two-pronged strategy: take advantage of in-race&nbsp;opportunities and maximise stints, even doing&nbsp;triple&nbsp;stints on the same set of tyres. With&nbsp;13 laps per stint (one more than the competition), the objective was to gain a pit stop over the course of the race, though it meant sacrificing a few tenths of a second per lap. It was a gutsy plan that was working right up until circumstance&nbsp;jeopardised everything.</p>

<p>On the heels of a long stretch in&nbsp;the top 10, the&nbsp;#94&nbsp;was undermined by a spin-out after&nbsp;contact with another car. Despite the determination of&nbsp;Duval, Jakobsen and&nbsp;Vandoorne, it finished 12th, trailing the winning&nbsp;Ferrari by three laps. The&nbsp;#93 saw its race upended in the first hours. leaving the&nbsp;track to avoid an out of control GT3 in the Porsche Corners, then undergoing&nbsp;repairs&nbsp;to both the front and rear of the car, followed by a steering problem later in the evening. The setbacks cost the #93&nbsp;about 10&nbsp;minutes. Yet, di Resta, Jensen, and Vergne persevered&nbsp;and&nbsp;went on to secure&nbsp;a well-deserved 17th place finish.</p>

<p><strong>Former Peugeot Sport Technical Director Olivier Jansonnie:</strong> <em>Peugeot TotalEnergies turned in an impressive performance, with very few mistakes unlike some of our competitors who were frequently penalised.&nbsp;</em><em>To achieve a respectable result here, we needed to be flawless. T</em><em>he engineers, mechanics and&nbsp;drivers came close to perfection.&nbsp;Bravo to everyone.&nbsp;</em><em>The most important thing is to maintain this level of commitment; it will pay off in the end.</em></p>

<h2>Encouraging Late Season</h2>

<p>After the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans, Peugeot righted the ship with third place for the&nbsp;#94 at&nbsp;Lone Star Le Mans in&nbsp;Austin and&nbsp;second place for the&nbsp;#93 at the&nbsp;6 Hours of&nbsp;Fuji, the best result in the&nbsp;9X8&#39;s history. The French marque ended the season in&nbsp;seventh place in the FIA Endurance Hypercar Constructors Championship just ahead of&nbsp;Aston Martin. <strong>Finot:</strong>&nbsp;<em>The potential is definitely there, and we can&rsquo;t wait to show it in 2026.</em>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The&nbsp;2026 season could be a real turning point for the team. The retirement of&nbsp;Jean-Marc Finot has kicked off a new era. On&nbsp;31 January, Jansonnie will take his place at the helm of&nbsp;Stellantis Motorsport. The appointment was a logical choice&nbsp;given his&nbsp;intimate knowledge of&nbsp;the DNA and potential of the 9X8 programme.</p>

<p>Two driver changes are shaping preparations for next year.&nbsp;After a year serving as a reserve driver, Th&eacute;o Pourchaire has been given a seat in the&nbsp;#94 alongside&nbsp;Duval and&nbsp;Jakobsen, and 2023-2024 Formula E runner-up&nbsp;Nick Cassidy will add to the&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/team-peugeot-totalenergies-full-season-and-development-drivers-confirmed-for-2026-60135" target="_blank">French squad&#39;s</a>&nbsp;</strong>pure speed.</p>

<p>With this internal restructuring&nbsp;and strengthened line-up,&nbsp;Peugeot&nbsp;clearly aims to rise to&nbsp;a new level by&nbsp;clinching its first win in the&nbsp;FIA WEC, like Alpine and&nbsp;Cadillac did in&nbsp;2025, and add a fourth victory at the&nbsp;24 Hours of Le&nbsp;Mans to its track record after those secured in&nbsp;1992, 1993 and&nbsp;2009. Will&nbsp;2026 finally be the year of the Lion?</p>

Peugeot: is 2026 the year the dream comes true?

<p style="text-align: justify;">
	Between a nonexistent script, dangerous shooting conditions for the drivers involved, a director who hit the bricks before the film wrapped and bloated costs, the film &quot;Le Mans&quot; got off to a bad start and despite its success in theatres, contributed to the failure of Steve McQueen&#39;s production company. At the time it was filmed, Chad McQueen, the actor&#39;s son, was a child and has now decided to show to the behind-the-scenes in a documentary which will be released in theatres in November. Check out the trailer...</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0uKV4BHaWdA?feature=oembed" width="480"></iframe></p>
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<p>
	Text: C&eacute;cile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO</p>
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	Video: YouTube - eOne ANZ&nbsp;</p>


24H LE MANS

Trailer for the documentary dedicated to the film "Le Mans" (video)

Related News

Top 10 photos from the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing: clawing its way back to the top

Porsche: the lap of honour before bowing out of the FIA WEC

Peugeot: is 2026 the year the dream comes true?

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